Why I Ultimately Left the Philippines

There are lots of articles out there about how retirement in the Philippines is amazing, and how, after a long and diligent life of hard work, expats find their little slice of paradise in the tropics, where they can live it up drinking cocktails and visiting tropical beaches until they shuffle off this mortal coil.

There aren’t too many articles detailing the cases in which it doesn’t work out. In this article, I’m going to explain why I left the Philippines, and hopefully, by reading it, you will gain a more realistic understanding of what is needed to make your dream life in the Philippines a success.

Why I Came to the Philippines

I came to the Philippines for the same reason most people do – because I visited and I loved it. I also had a wife from the Philippines, although we had met in another country and hadn’t lived there together yet.

So, I arrived in search of the exact dream most do – the sunshine, tropical getaways, and a carefree life. I found all of them, but I quickly came up against reality, too, and ultimately decided to head back to the UK.

Why I Left the Philippines

I left the Philippines for one main, overarching reason – lack of financial opportunity.

I know, I know, there’s opportunity everywhere, and it’s a digital world. The web connects us all, and it’s possible to make money online from anywhere. BUT, it takes time, often many years, for those digital seeds to bear fruit, and since I had a young family to support, I couldn’t afford to wait.

The Philippines is truly a third world country. Yes, it’s stunning, yes, it costs little to live in when compared to Western nations, and yes, it's paradise. It is also not a place you want to find yourself without much cash, and before moving here, you would need to have either substantial savings or a steady income stream.

I had the latter when I moved there, but changes in the economy meant I quickly found that drying up (oil crash). If you don’t have a steady income, things will be tough in the Philippines, and you’re best to wait until you have that sorted before moving or retiring there.

I was also concerned for my son’s future. What would he do when he grows up? What decent jobs would there be for him? I knew his Pinoy family would take good care of him, but what could he do if he wanted to chart his own course in life? This concern began weighing on my mind more heavily as time passed, and I felt I owed it to him to bring him back to the UK. If he decides to return, he will have my full support, but it will be his own choice, and I will have done what I can for him as a parent.

Life in the Philippines can be inexpensive, but honestly speaking, if you want to live a decent quality of life, it’s not. If you want good medical care, a solid education for your children, and a lifestyle you can enjoy, you need a fair amount of money coming in every month – not anything under $1500 USD in my experience. Again, that is if you want a lifestyle you can enjoy (eating out, a sense of security, regular travel).

So, I left because I needed to take care of my family, and I felt ill-equipped to do so in the Philippines. You might face the same problems if you’re not prepared. It’s easy to underestimate what you need to move here and make it work.

I Plan to Return to the Philippines

All of the above said I do plan to come back to the Philippines to retire. It is beautiful, and you really can live the type of life you dream of but do not underestimate the amount of money you will need to enjoy it thoroughly. It’s not for young families struggling to establish themselves, but will be better suited to those who have either steady income streams from investments, established digital businesses, or who are financially independent through pensions or other means.

Someday my wife and I plan to come back and live the good life in the Philippines. It will just be to retire when life’s work is behind us.

What are your thoughts? What has or would cause you to leave the Philippines? What do you think is a minimum amount a small family would need to live a comfortable life in the Philippines?

I will be retiring in the PH in about 3 – 4 years and my biggest concern is boredom. I know, how can that be in Paradise? So far the longest that I have stayed is 4 weeks and I found myself looking for things to do. Right now we do not have a car which won’t be the case when I retire and that will help. Being mobile will allow us to do more and that alone will help. I love to look at the water but I am not much on actually going in the water. Maybe a… Read more »

I recently married (in the Philippines) and now live with my wife in the provinces. There is a lot written on the web to say how good things are here but little to say the opposite so, for that reason, it was an interesting article. You spoke of boredom but please be honest with yourself, no matter where you live you can feel bored sometimes. Boredom was the main reason I emigrated to the Philippines (marriage kept me here) and now I have settled in I see no reason to move (and I live in Mindanao). I have been a… Read more »

Due to unexpected circumstances, I find myself probably less than 30 days from moving to the Philippines from the US. My fiancé awaits, also out in the province, south of Cebu City. I will arrive with far less than your suggested amount. However, we are in slightly unique position. Her small piggery is already successful, and put’s money in the bank. She currently pays all the household bills, including food from her little sari sari store, and has for numerous years. The house and property is fully paid for, so having no rent/mortgage to pay is HUGE bonus for us.… Read more »

Kevin, I appreciate you taking the time to write about your experience. Life there as an expat is certainly different for each of us so it’s great to hear that you never experience boredom. I am sure that when I actually start living there things will be different. We do not have a car at this time but we will buy one at retirement. That alone will allow for exploring and traveling longer distances to shop. We are looking to buy a little farm land so that too will require our time. I have considered the differences between life in… Read more »

Gav, thank you for your helpful article. It is a sure thing that anyone moving to the Philippines must do his/her homework before moving there. Some people think they can get a job anywhere, but if the locals have a difficult time finding employment, foreigners would have an even more difficult time of it. From what you said, it seems that the best age group of people moving to the Philippines would be the retired segment, which has Social Security and a pension–unless a young person happens to be independently wealthy. I have thought about retiring in the Philippines, and… Read more »

Thank you for telling us your experience, I fully understand and agree. Actually, the blog is ‘RETIRING to the Philippines’ … I can imagine that looking for a job on your own here, with a reasonable income, must be a challenge. In our case, we came in the Philippines because our daughter married a Philippino. Very nice guy, excellent education and manager of a growing company, I appreciate him and his family very much. So I decided to retire a bit earlier, we live in the same condo (but a different apartment) than my daughter and we are close to… Read more »

Whilst I understand the reasoning behind your decision to leave, it begs the question why did you move there in the first place? Of course not having adequate income stream or savings is a problem, but surely that is the case anywhere you choose to live. This site is about Retiring to The Philippines. By definition that means being in a position of not having to work in order to survive. Understand that your sons education is important, but is that not something that you should have considered before moving there? Sorry that it didn’t work out for you and… Read more »

David, thanks for encouragement. Our house is near the family and fishing is what part of the family did for many years so I can get support there. I do love the people and the culture. Having grown up in the Northern Midwest of the US this is quite a change. I do hope to find a hobby that helps me to fill the day and like I said having a vehicle will make all the difference. I would like to explore taking short 2 – 3 days trips and learning more about the country. I could not be more… Read more »

Nicholas – Thanks for your comment and I’m glad you liked the article. I agree that you need money or a way to make money when moving to the Philippines. I would question whether that has to necessarily mean one needs to be ‘retired’, in the conventional sense of the word. There are many people who live over here and don’t claim a pension. The Internet has opened up many doors that didn’t exist 20 years ago.

I agree employment in the Philippines is challenging at best, and you would really have to study the culture before going into a business endeavor. Also, you just can’t make any money here, unless you have your own business, and it has to be very well thought out.. As far as the boredom, I find that the easy pace is the positive. I didn’t like swimming in the waters either, but now enjoy it because I have the time. Retirement is the way to go, don’t know how a younger family would survive, unless off of savings. $1500 would be… Read more »

It really depends on where you want to live in the Philippines and how you want to live, for me I wanted or needed to live in Makati for business reasons and I wanted a lifestyle similar to what I had in the uk which was not bad. So having decided that how much did it costs, well lets just say living in the northwest of the uk as I did before I came was much much cheaper than what it costs to live now. If you are happy to live out in the Provinces which can be nice and… Read more »

Mark – If you’re a single guy and have $1500, you can live pretty comfortably but if that’s for a family then you would either need to lower your standards or have more money. Even if you’re single I wouldn’t say $1500 will give you an extravagant lifestyle so it all depends on what you want.

I’m frankly amazed that having lived 8yrs in Asia you have the nativity, stupidity or sheer cheek first of all to try and make money in a third world economy and then complain you can’t have s first world lifestyle at their expense!
I have no sympathy with expats who expect the Filipinos to subsidise them.

How you can enjoy returning to the broken shell of a country (formally known as UK) beggars belief. The Philippines is both an exciting and frustrating place to live. And yes – you do need sufficient income to live here. If you think you can live on pennies, then think again. I would argue that you need a minimum £1000 or $1300 per month to live comfortably in one of the bigger cities. And of course consideration about medical care must be taken into account. But as Trump in the US seems hell bent on dismantling Obamacare and likewise in… Read more »

You can not use “Obamacare” or Medicare in the Philippines. If you are not retured US Military, as far as I know, you have to pay the bill yourself. However, most medical care is many times cheaper than in the US. If you need major surgery, heart transplant and the like, I suggest you stay in the US.

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1 month 13 days ago

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